Guild-ed links

The Directors Guild award is one of the most important awards on the road to the Oscars, but this year, because of the large disparity between those nominees and the Oscar nominees for Best Director, it had become even more difficult to predict. Then Ben Affleck and Argo started winning everything, and now it looks like that streak could continue this weekend when the DGA winner is announced. Whoever wins here could have the inside track on Best Director at the Oscars, and even Best Picture, but even if Affleck wins, he can't win Best Director because he's not nominated. And that's only part of the strangeness of this very competitive Oscar season.

I suspect Affleck will win the DGA this weekend and I'm currently picking Ang Lee to take Best Director at the Oscars, though one obviously cannot count out Steven Spielberg. I had picked Lincoln to take Best Picture, but because of the recent Argo surge, that's no longer a sure thing. Argo would have to overcome extremely long odds to win Best Picture, but this is a year in which anything can happen, because of the competitiveness of the films involved. I wish I could call it.

Your links, ladles and germs:

Did you know that the Irving Berlin-penned ditty "Puttin' on the Ritz," a song featured in several movies over the years, was originally about seeing black entertainers perform in Harlem? Becky knew.

Jacqueline talks about an old film set on location in her little corner of New England.

Brandie watched a Western... and she liked it...

Ruth talks about five up-and-coming actors that may have a little something going for them.

A vintage film theater here in New York is getting a massive revival.

Here's a brief yet comprehensive analysis of race in the early years of television.

And finally, former NYC mayor-turned-film critic Ed Koch dies on the eve of the release of a documentary about his life.